Climate Refugees and the Institute for the Study of Human Rights Present:
"Frontlines: Climate Risks & Migration"
A Reflective Conversation on Migrants at the US Southern Border on Earth Day, April 22, 2021
The number of migrant arrivals at the US-Mexico border has increased in recent weeks, leading to outcries by the usual actors and even some mainstream media of a “border crisis.” Many of these individuals are asylum-seekers from Central America, where compounding pressures and the failure to address conditions displacing individuals, including climate risks, are among the reasons driving forced movements to US borders. In February, President Biden issued an executive order on Rebuilding and Enhancing Programs to Resettle Refugees and Planning for the Impact of Climate Change on Migration. It offers the possibility of US commitment to address climate change and forced migration through increased support to climate resilience, protection and resettlement pathways for individuals displaced by climate-related impacts, and opportunities for international cooperation. In response to the executive order, Climate Refugees released the report "Climate Change, Forced Displacement, Peace & Security: Biden Administration Actions That Ensure Rights." (https://www.climate-refugees.org/reports/policybrief-to-biden-eo)
Now Climate Refugees and the Institute for the Study of Human Rights at Columbia University are hosting a virtual panel discussion on Central American migration at US borders through the lens of actors and activists working on the frontlines. We will bring together experts in asylum, climate policy, and environmental justice, working at individual, community and regional levels to discuss their respective work and solutions, and an overarching view on what can be done at the global level, ahead of the climate negotiations at COP26 in Glasgow.
Special Opening Remarks by Rep. Joaquin Castro, TX
Panelists:
-Alma Maquitico, Co-Director, National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights
-Jasmine Sanders, Executive Director, Our Climate
-Adrián Martinez Blanco, Director, La Ruta del Clima
-Erika Andiola, Chief Advocacy Officer, RAICES
Moderator:
-Amali Tower, Founder and Executive Director, Climate Refugees
For Zoom information, please register here: http://bit.ly/frontlinesclimate
